Sonja Ludvigsen

Ludvigsen was born in Vestby in 1928. After completing her education she did various white-collar jobs before obtaining employment with Vestby municipality where she was a tax adjuster from 1958 to 1965. She was a member of Vestby municipal council from 1955 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1972, and a member of the school board from 1960 to 1968. She was a member of the Workers' Youth League central board from 1958 to 1964 and the Labour Party central board from 1965 to 1974.[1]

Ludvigsen died when only 46 years old having been suffering from a terminal disease, a condition she knew about before taking office as Minister of Social Affairs.[2]

Tor Halvorsen was appointed acting Minister in April,[3] but no successor had been named a month after Ludvigsen's death. In August 1974 the newspaper Verdens Gang wrote that the "only thing which can be said to be certain now, is that the new Minister of Social Affairs will be a woman".[4] This proved to be an inaccurate statement as three weeks later a man, Tor Halvorsen, was named as the permanent Minister of Social Affairs.[3]